This invention relates to a collapsible container, and particularly to a container especially adapted for use aboard a boat to store a large fish, such as a tuna fish.
Fishing for large fish, such as tuna, marlin, sailfish, swordfish, and the like, may well take place twenty to one hundred miles from shore. This means that the fish must be stored in refrigeration or ice if it is to be preserved in weight, edibility and/or appearance for consignment purposes. A fishing boat is typically equipped with a container to store ice and fish. Such a container usually comprises a rigid box forming a permanent part of the boat. One problem with this construction is that the box is a permanent part of the boat thereby taking up a substantial amount of space regardless of whether the box is actually being used. The box also adds undesired weight to the boat. In order to overcome this, portable rigid chests have been utilized which may be placed in and removed from a boat depending on the need at the time. Generally, these types of chests are bulky, heavy and difficult to manipulate.
In the case of boats fishing for tuna, marlin, sailfish, swordfish, and the like, the normal size of the boat utilized does not afford enough practical space for a large permanent or rigid fish box that would be required to contain such a fish which commonly vary in length from six to twelve feet. The cost and weight of such a container would be substantial due to the size required. Since the degree of dehydration of the fish often determines the weight and appearance, and therefore the commercial value of the fish, in the case of large, non-consignable fish, the only current alternative to having a large fish box is to return to port after each day's catch to avoid spoilage. This requires considerable amounts of fuel, time and related expenses.
Several attempts have been made in the prior art to address the above problems. U.S. Pat. No. 4,301,920 to John N. Boggs, discloses a bag device for preserving and protecting game-fish. The Boggs bag includes a layered insulating sheathing which is foldable about a fold line for partially enclosing and insulating the fish in ice. Velcro fastening tape carried around the periphery of the sheath and fold line effectively seals the main body portion therein and around the extended portions of the fish. When folded, the bag has normal dimensions of eight feet by three feet. When the fish is enclosed in the Boggs bag it is then laid out on the cockpit deck. The Boggs bag does not have the capability of holding brine.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,716,938 to Walter D. Ammons, discloses a suspended fish box. The fish box is comprised of a collapsible tubular frame over which a flexible, water-tight sheet is fashioned. Hooks are fixedly attached to a boat and a top bar of the frame engages said hooks.
Neither the Boggs or Ammons bags are adjustable in size. The Boggs bag is simply laid out on a deck. There are no means for fastening the bag to the boat. The Boggs bag will easily shift and slide around during moderate to heavy seas. The Ammons bag is dependent on a tubular frame to give the bag shape and affix the bag to the boat. For large fish, i.e., two hundred pounds or more and a diameter in the range of sixteen inches, the tubular frame would require tremendous strength. The placement of a large fish into the Ammons bag would require some nonstandard rigging or several men to avoid damage to the frame while placing the fish into the bag.